Millions will suffer from summit failure says War on Want

Millions will suffer from summit failure says War on Want

The anti-poverty charity War on Want today condemned Gordon Brown and other G20 leaders for throwing money at the global economic crisis rather than addressing its root causes.

The anti-poverty charity War on Want today condemned Gordon Brown and other G20 leaders for throwing money at the global economic crisis rather than addressing its root causes.

According to War on Want, the G20 has used the London summit to resurrect the failed policies and institutions of the free market era, in a deal which prioritises short-term action at the expense of fundamental reform.

It called for a new world economic system based on principles of public benefit, not private profit, achieved through democratic control and a fair redistribution of the fruits of globalisation.

War on Want executive director John Hilary said: “Millions of people will pay a high price for the G20’s refusal to address the root causes of the current crisis.

“The world demanded a new economic system which puts the needs of people first. Instead the G20 have just thrown money at the failed institutions of the past.”

War on Want said a stimulus package for the developing world is desperately needed. But the G20 decision to treble money available to the International Monetary Fund will resurrect an institution which lacks legitimacy and continues to impose crippling free market conditions on countries which turn to it for help.

The charity also attacked the G20 for its failure to take decisive action to close down tax havens. Tax dodging by corporations costs the UK economy an estimated £100 billion a year and deprives developing countries of an estimated £250 billion a year – money which campaigners say could meet the UN anti-poverty goals several times over.

The charity warned that the G20 leaders’ renewed insistence on a conclusion to the Doha world trade talks will increase unemployment which is already soaring due to the global economic crisis.

War on Want says this will put 7.5 million workers at risk in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Mexico, Philippines, Tunisia and Uruguay and millions more in other countries.